"The decision to close schools is always difficult but now we must come together to ensure all students are safe and successful," Hite tweeted.

Opponents say the closures will hurt struggling neighborhoods, disrupt students' education and lead to blight.

19 Arrested in School Closings Protest

At a high-stakes School Reform Commission vote Thursday night to close dozens of schools in Philadelphia, hundreds of students, parents, teachers, and community leaders gathered in protest. 19 protesters were arrested and released. NBC10's Chris Cato talked to several of the people who were arrested, including the President of the American Federation of Teachers. (Published Friday, Mar 8, 2013)

Hundreds attended the School Reform Commission meeting immediately after a rally. Nineteen people were arrested on disorderly conduct charges after they tried to stop the school closure vote from taking place by blocking the doors to the auditorium. All 19 were issued a citation and later released, police said.

"These terrible attacks on our teachers, attacks on our students, we have to stand up and fight back, and that's what we were doing tonight," said retired teacher Tom Whitehorn.

19 Arrested in Philly Schools Closing Protest

“The SRC's vote to close 24 neighborhood schools is a stark illustration of how out of touch the School Reform Commission is with the parents, students, educators and communities that depend on these institutions.

School closings disrupt students' lives and disenfranchise our poorest communities. It is a misguided, poorly planned and ultimately ineffective action that will do nothing to improve education in Philadelphia.

The entire school closing process wastes time and money that would be better spent exploring what it really takes to ensure that all of our schoolchildren get what they need. Instead of starving our schools, then shutting them down, we should be fighting for adequate education funding so that every school can provide students with the materials, programs, services and extracurricular activities that define a quality public education.

The thousands of people who attended the rally at the school district building today remind us that the fight to save public education in Philadelphia is only beginning. The PFT will continue to stand with the community and demand that the SRC, school district, mayor and governor reset their priorities from cutbacks and concessions to reinvestment in our public schools. “